Unveiling the Godhead: The Personality of God and Where His Presence Is Revisited

By Carl Holland

Have you ever asked yourself the following hard questions about God’s existence? Is God a personal transcendent being? Does He abide in a real place in the heavens, sit on a real throne or are these only metaphors of reality. Another way, in laymen terms, to ask this question is God a real person that lives above all His creation? Or is He a ethereal bodiless being that is imminent throughout all creation? If you find yourself pondering these things, you are not alone. These are questions that even the great philosophers, theologians and Christian thinkers ponder. Many books have been written on the subject. Every denominational Church, Catholic and Protestants alike have written Creeds to explain these often asked questions about God. Does God reveal Himself in His Word? The Word of God is self revelation of Himself, and In the end, that which will build our faith is His Word. May God bless our journey together in His Word as we seek out the answers to these deep questions about God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jan 20, 2020
• ISBN: 9781532084614

Carl Holland

Carl Holland (1955-) was not raised in a committed Christian home, but found the Lord as a result of personal tragedy. His grandfather was a committed Christian and had a huge influence on him turning to the Lord out of the tragedy. After starting a family (he now has 5 kids and 8 grand kids) Carl pursued a call into the ministry and has a BA in theology from South Western Adventist College, now a university. After serving a few years as a pastor/ evangelist he retired in order to spend more time in research and study in the area of the material of this book.

Book preview

Copyright © 2020 Carl Holland.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

iUniverse

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.iuniverse.com

1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. [Biblica]

ISBN: 978-1-5320-8460-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-8461-4 (e)

iUniverse rev. date:  01/20/2020

CONTENTS

Foreword

Chapter 1 Church in Crises part 1

Chapter 2 The Church in Crises part 2

Chapter 3 False Science the Root of Kellogg’s Apostasy

Chapter 4 God’s True Nature Revealed From Scripture

Chapter 5 History of False Science and how It Infiltrated the Church through Pagan Philosophies

Chapter 6 Trinity or not?

Chapter 7 The One God: The Father

Chapter 8 The Son of God

Chapter 9 The Holy Spirit

Chapter 10 Is the Holy Spirit, A Person?

Chapter 11 Understanding the Meaning of Spirit / Soul

Chapter 12 The Spirit and God’s Character

Chapter 13 Spirit and Life

Chapter 14 Experiencing the Spirit

Chapter 15 The Presence of God and the Word of God

Chapter 16 The Presence of God In Nature

Chapter 17 The Presence of God In Living Mediums: angels

Chapter 18 The Presence of God in Living Mediums – Humans

"And one shall say,

Heap it up, Heap it up,

Prepare the way,

Take the stumbling block out of the way of my people."

For thus says the high and lofty One

Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy;

I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit,

To revive the spirit of the humble,

And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

Isaiah57:14,15NKJ

FOREWORD

What do Kellogg’s Corn Flakes and the Godhead have in common? Have you ever heard the name John Harvey Kellogg? More than likely, you have. He was one of the most brilliant, and influential doctors of the last half of the nineteenth century and first part of the twentieth century. He revolutionized the natural health industry and was an ingenious inventor. If you sit down to eat a bowl of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, you can thank John Harvey Kellogg; although later he let his brother take over the business. He was a religious man, a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and he had some very creative ideas about God that turned his church upside down. His scientific and religious views are still alive today.

We have all wondered about God. Is He a real personal being? Is He everywhere present, is He centrally located some place in heaven ruling the universe from a real throne, or is it both ways? Kellogg's view of the Godhead contrasted with the mainstream leaders of his church in his day because his teachings greatly mystified the truth of the personality and presence of God. Kellogg's teachings have embedded within them spiritualism of the highest order (spiritualistic views of God). What is your opinion of God? Do you individually, or your church collectively, have the right view today? Or have most of us strayed from the correct foundational teachings of the Word of God and the history of the early Christian church? Let's objectively study the Bible and church history and reason together to discover the correct view. An accurate understanding of the personality and presence of God puts our faith on solid ground and can unify God's people.

The foundational truth of what I share in this book crosses denominational boundaries, and I use writings from many different denominations, including the Seventh-day Adventist Church that Kellogg was a member. I use mainly Adventist materials that reflect historical Adventist views. One Adventist writer that I use in particular is a woman by the name of Ellen White, who lived and wrote during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. I am convinced that God endowed her with great insight and wisdom beyond her natural ability. She only had a third-grade education but she wrote volume upon volume of Christian books and articles. These books have made their way into millions of homes around the world in succeeding generations of every denomination. You may have one or more of her books in your library and don’t even realize it. Some of her books are in the Library of Congress. They have been a blessing to millions of people who have read them. Her counsels and insights carry a lot of authority in Adventist circles, and she has some strong warnings against the abuse Kellogg inflicted against the truth about the nature of God.

In the academic, religious world, this book would probably be called a doctrinal thesis. Some might automatically think humdrum; however, one thing, I am not from the academic-religious world, and I'm not big on fancy words, so if that doesn’t hold you back, don’t be afraid to read on. Also, when it comes to learning about the most wonderful and awesome God of the universe, I don’t think it will be as humdrum as you first suspect. While this may not be a fiction thriller that keeps you at the edge of your seat, I do hope that it will be as refreshing as the promise in Deuteronomy 32:1, 2 says, "Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass." Thank you and may God bless.

CHAPTER 1

CHURCH IN CRISES PART 1

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

Therefore rejoice, [ye] heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man [child].

And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Revelation 12:12,13,17 KJV

38375.jpg

We generally think of heaven as a quite peaceful place, a place of bliss and tranquility, and it was until sometime in eternity past when war broke out in heaven. Of this war there is no explanation except for what Scripture reveals. Ezekiel tells us Lucifer was created perfect, one of the most bright and beautiful angels in heaven. He was a covering cherub who ministered in the very presence of the Father, but he forgot that his beauty, brightness and honor came from his creator God the Father and Son. He thought he could do a better job than They running the universe (Isaiah 14:12-14.) So the war began.

Lucifer became Satan, God’s adversary, and at some point God had to cast him out of heaven. He cast him to earth and Satan turned his fury against the inhabitants of the earth. It is written "Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." (Revelation12:12 KJV.) Satan turned his fury against mankind in general, but his greatest wrath is against God’s people, those who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus (Revelation 12:17 KJV.) These are "… the lot of His inheritance. … the apple of His eye, and He guards His Church "as an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: (Deuteronomy 32:9-11 KJV.) Those, who are the special object of God’s affection, Satan hates with as much fury as he hates God. If he could, Satan would wipe the Church from existence, and he has tried. He has used every fiendish mode at his disposal to destroy God’s Church, but to no avail. It is during times of persecution that the Church has historically grown the fastest. Thus it is according to Tertullian, "the blood of the saints was but the seed of the Church."

Satan realizing this he changed his tactics. He turned from using the scaffold to corrupting the Church from within. He began by corrupting the Word of God. He employed pagan philosophers who masqueraded themselves as ministers of the gospel, and they mixed their mystical philosophies into the foundational truths of Scripture. They made the law of God null and void; they made God Himself into a mythical tyrant and turned heavenly realities into spiritualistic fairytales; heaven a mystical place and angels into cupids floating on clouds.

These tactics proved more deadly than the scaffold, and turned the church from being the persecuted to being the persecutors of those who would not conform to their destructive teachings. History testifies that the visible Church was responsible for killing over 50,000,000 so called dissenters over a 1000 year span. No persecution can be so fierce as a mind that is convinced they are doing God service.

From Darkness to Light

History testifies that the Church eventually took the Word of God completely out of the hand of the common people, and when the Word of God is not in the land every man does what is right in his own eyes. Consequently, gross darkness envelopes the land, and thus historians depict those days as the Dark Ages.

The God of light and understanding does not stand by idle in this great controversy. When the Christian faith was at its darkest He raised gallant men; men such as William Tyndale, Jerome, Huss and Martin Luther to restore the Word of God, and the light of truth to the people. They are known today as the Protestant reformers.

God didn’t flood these reformers with light, but the light He gave